To be Normal
by Hanne87
Summary: Harry reflects on the war. He made it through, now he has to get used to a normal life. He gets a new job in a different country. Will he find peace, and possibly love? Written postHBP, my first chaptered story.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Harry stood on the balcony of his new house. The view was so amazing. He had been looking forward to it all day while he was packing up his belongings and shrinking the boxes in Godric's Hollow. Last week when he came to look at the house for the first time, the location had been the major selling point. When he turned north he could almost believe that he was standing in the middle of a forest. Not a house within sight. In this lovely weather the blue fjord was blinking, little waves washed up on the shore. The sea had made a narrow passage between the impressive mountains that shielded the little town from the rough winds of the North sea. Behind him there really was a town, cradled safely in the green valley. He felt like he was inside a beautiful fortress. Full of life and blossoming in the summer heat. The mountains surrounding the town felt like huge guardians. Never in his life had he known such safety. The treat that had been hanging over his head for seven years was gone now. He survived, got rid of the burden, and made the world a much safer place for everyone. Well, everyone except Ron, Sirius, Dumbledore and the others who fell during the war.

Harry had begun his hunt around the time when he turned seventeen. The goal was clear. Destroy Voldemort. Destroy every single part of him. An enormous task that had to be done, step by step. He had to track down all the Horcruxes. At the end of the school-year Harry had gone to Privet Drive. In the end Ron, Hermione and Harry had decided to part for a few weeks, especially Hermione needed to spend time with her family. Harry was glad to get a moment to himself. He was still full of sorrow, and had to take a little time to sort through the memories. It was helpful to gather his thoughts, and make a some plans.

When he arrived at the Dursleys' a card-board box had been sitting on his bed, waiting for him. It was a gift from Dumbledore, and contained many interesting objects. A weird gun-like device with an aerial turned out to be an instrument for detecting magic, it went high-wire when pointed at his trunk or the box. Harry felt like Christmas had come early, and still he had half a dozen things to look at. A knife similar to the one he got from Sirius was the next thing he pulled out. It seemed a bit more advanced though, like the deluxe version. The blade on the old one melted when he tried to use it in the Department of Mysteries. A spare invisibility cloak lay on top of a small pile of books. Next to it he found a foe-glass, and the most exciting thing of all, a tiny Pensieve.

He had placed it carefully on a table and prodded the surface with his wand. It was all a routine now, after using Pensieves with Dumbledore on numerous occasions. He landed safely inside the Pensieve, and found himself standing in the familiar headmaster's office. There was no painting of Dumbledore on the wall, he was standing next to Harry. His hands were still whole, and he held a ring in his hand. The one which once were on Slytherin's finger.

Dumbledore carefully bent down and placed it on the floor. Then he straightened up and pointed his wand at it. A look of determination came over his face, then an orange jet of light shot out towards the ring. Harry nearly jumped when Dumbledore let out a small cry of pain and dropped his wand. He held his hand out, and his finger-tips looked slightly black. He picked up his wand again, this time the jet of light was bright white. Harry wasn't surprised when Dumbledore once again dropped his wand. Now most of his fingers were black. Harry wished he could have stopped him when he aimed a new spell at the ring, but couldn't help that Dumbledore's hand now was almost entirely black. He walked closer to him, and for a moment they both stood unmoving while starting at the hand. Suddenly the darkness seemed to increase. Blackening the fingers even more, and more of the hand turned a slight black. Dumbledore turned, and ran for the door.

At this point the room started to swirl, but came into focus again seconds later. Dumbledore was back, only now both of them had moved closer to the fire-place. The flames were green and so warm, Harry could barely stand to be so close. A strange metallic liquid was bubbling in the cauldron. Dumbledore lifted his black hand, and dropped the ring inside. He took a few steps back. Then came a small explosion. White fog rose from the cauldron and slowly faded away. The metallic liquid looked the same as before. The last thing Harry saw before he was back in his own bedroom was Dumbledore's face as he turned around. He looked very pleased.

Harry continued to go look through the big box while he digested what he just saw. At the very bottom he found a small box. He opened it, and read the note inside.

"Dear Harry, In this box you will find the key to your parents house in Godric's Hollow, in their will they asked me to take care of their property until you turned seventeen. I've taken the liberty of restoring the house to its old condition. You should ask Remus to take you there when you are ready. I'm so sorry that I won't get to witness any more of your adventures, but my time had come. I wanted you to have some of my more useful possessions to help you in your quest. I wish you good luck in life. AD."

Two weeks later Mr. Weasley and Ron came over to pick him up. They had arranged a special port-key for the occasion. Apparently the Minister was getting increasingly concerned with Harry's safety. At the Burrow Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Bill, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody and Professor McGonagall were waiting for them. Harry had sent an owl to Mr. Weasley requested that they would meet him there, and he had arranged it. These were the people he felt he could trust as they had proven themselves in many ways. They had fought together either in the Department of Mysteries, at Hogwarts or both. Most important of all, they had Dumbledore's trust as members of the Order. He knew he needed all the help he could get. He would have wanted Hagrid to be there too, unfortunately he knew him all to well, and it didn't take the biggest effort to wrestle secrets out of him. It was a risk he couldn't afford to take. Mrs. Figg were also an Order-member, but since she was a Squib, she would have a difficulty protecting herself from the Death Eaters, and Harry didn't want the dear old lady to be in to much danger. The rest of the members of the Order he felt too insecure about, Dumbledore's opinion or not. At this point he didn't trust his judgement completely.

Remus greeted Harry with a hug, while Mrs. Weasley questioned him about whether he'd eaten dinner. He lied and told her that he had, as he was very eager to talk to the people present. A lot of thoughts had been growing in his mind, now he needed to get things done. They all settled down in the living room. The rest of the Weasley family was out playing Quidditch, but McGonagall cast a Silencing Charm on the room. This conversation was far to important to be over-heard.

Because Harry was the one who gathered them all there, he started talking. He needed to fill them in on what he was planning to do. Ron and Hermione already knew most of it. He told everyone why they were there, and asked them if they agreed to help him as much as they could. Everyone agreed without hesitation. Harry proceeded to tell them about the Horcruxes and the Prophecy. Tonks let out a gasp and looked horrified at the thought of it.

"Well, that explains a lot!" Kingsley said. They all seemed to feel somewhat more confident now that they knew more about what they were up against, killing Voldemort didn't look as impossible as before.

For the next hour they shared relevant information. Harry pulled out the note he found in the fake Horcrux. Everyone became very interested in the mysterious "R. A. B.". For a while they tried to think of names that fit the initials, and a few were mentioned. Harry didn't recognize any of them. Remus was the first think of a known Death Eater, Regulus Altair Black. Harry and Ron exchanged looks at this information. Ron had his mouth half-open, and was just about to say something when Hermione jumped out of her seat.

"The locket in the cabinet!" She looked around at Harry and Ron. "Remember? We found one while cleaning out Grimmauld Place. Maybe it's the one. I didn't think of it before, but if it was Regulus who found it..." She sat down again, suddenly a bit embarrassed about her out-burst.

After much discussion the conclusion they came to was that this was in fact the most likely. It was decided that after the wedding Harry, Ron, Hermione and Moody would go to Grimmauld Place to look for it. Moody had insisted to be the one to come, he didn't trust the old house without Dumbledore's protection on it, and his magical eye could be useful for spotting danger. They feared that Mundungus Fletcher might have stole the locket, but weren't entirely sure that he had gone through the sacks of stuff they had cleared out of the house and put in the shed in the back. Hopefully he'd stolen items still inside the house, they were more valuable after all. A locket no one could open didn't seem that likely to be of interest to him.

Finally Harry told them about the gifts from Dumbledore, everyone was very interested in the magic detector as they didn't have the old wizard's ability to sense magical traps and objects. Then he told them about the key and his wish to move there.

"I'm not surprised, I figured you didn't want to worry about home-work and curfew at this point," Bill said. His parents did not seem to agree.

"You're very soon of age, Harry, so if that's you want I'll take you there." Remus half-smiled to him.

"We're going too!" said Ron, his hand resting on Hermione's shoulder.

"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley could no longer hold back her protests. "I really don't think that's a good idea, what about school, and friends, and Quidditch, you're too young to worry about anything else. You should not be involved in this risky business, I've tried to keep my kids out of it! It's so dangerous!"

"I'm of age! And you know I can't abandon Harry now. He has no choice! Hogwarts might not open anymore anyway, we all have to do everything we can now. I want to do what's right, and not what's easy and safe!" His parents seemed to find it hard to object to this, but Molly looked heart-broken, and Harry saw fear in her eyes. He knew Hermione had gone through the same thing with her parents, she sent him an owl a week earlier. They had accepted her choice in the end.

Soon they all went home or to bed. Everyone had a lot to think about. For the Weasleys the next days were busy with preparations.

Bill and Fleur's wedding was lovely, although Harry mostly sat at his table with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. They had a fun time, but often Harry would look at the other guests, wishing they weren't in such grave danger. The wish to make the world safe again burned even stronger inside him when he saw their happy faces.

After the celebrations were done with Harry, Hermione and Ron moved to Harry's house in Godric's Hollow. Actually the day they moved in was Harry's birthday. They set up security the same way they did with Number 12, Grimmaulds Place, with Harry as the secret-keeper. The Weasleys, Remus and Tonks helped them settle in. Harry felt really weird being back where he had spent his first year, and his parents had spent their last time together. He felt closer to them then he had been for sixteen years. The cottage was in good condition. It didn't look more than five years old. According to Remus the shape of the rooms were the same as the had been, the colours too. What it was lacking was the personal stuff, and it was clear no one had ever used the furniture, which was simple and made of solid wood.

They worked quickly to put up some pictures. The cottage was quite large, with three bedrooms, a bathroom, a separate toilet, living room, a small room used as a kind of office, and a comfortable kitchen. They voted that Harry got the larger bedroom, it was his house after all. Mrs. Weasley and Hermione had taken some of Harry's money and gotten some plants, pillows and other stuff for a more cozy feeling. Harry was really glad now that he had some money. It would be a bit risky for him to get a job and be seen in public a lot. He had more than enough to last for a few years. By then the war would hopefully be over, he didn't want to think about what might come after, it was hard to imagine that he could beat Voldemort and stay alive to see even his next birthday.

The next day Moody came over to their house. It had been arranged for Harry and Ron to take the Apparation test at the Ministry, due to the fact that they weren't going back to school with the others. Their fireplace had silently been connected to the Floo Network for a few hours. This way they were able to land safely in the Ministry of Magic and get to the Apparation Test Center without too much risk involved. Half an hour later both boys had their licenses. Harry passed with flying colours, Ron did too after an antagonizing five seconds were he seemed to be near panic.

Harry, Hermione and Ron waited in the Hall next to the restored fountain while Moody apparated to Grimmaulds Place. He came back three minutes later and declared that the house seemed to be safe, but as a precaution he wanted them to have their wands out. One by one they apparated in front of the backdoor and walked over to the shed. When Harry arrived he pulled the Magic Detector out from his backpack. Hermione opened the door to the shed. Several rubbish sacks stood there still. They pulled one out and started looking through the content carefully. None of it seemed to be from the cabinet, so they put it back and started on the next one. In the third one they found some stuff from the cabinet, the musical box and the Order of Merlin. They dug around for a long time, and Harry was getting worried, but then Ron pulled out his hand with the large gold locket dangling from its chain.

Harry pointed the Magic Detector's aerial on it, and it started buzzing and vibrating. Moody stuffed the sack back in the shed and closed the door. Then they apparated back to Godric's Hollow. When safe in their living room Harry examined the locket, it had a snake on the front. Still he was unable to get it open. Moody sent out his Patronus for Remus, and Tonks too if she was with him. They both arrived ten minutes later.

Harry had told them about what he saw in the Pensieve. Clearly magic did no good, they had to find a Muggle way to destroy it. Hermione suggested using nitrohydrochloric acid in a cauldron made from tungsten. She explained that the acid would dissolve gold, but not tungsten under normal temperatures. Ron looked amazed at her, but she shrugged her shoulders and muttered something about liking chemistry.

McGonagall was summoned to transfigure the cauldron, while Remus and Hermione worked on the acid. Once the acid was ready they had to work fast because it was unstable. As a precaution they all walked over to the other side of the room while Harry levitated the locket into the liquid. For a while nothing seemed to happen. Then came a small explosion, and like in Dumbledore's office a white fog rose out of the cauldron before fading away.

After cleaning up they had some tea and cookies. Everyone was feeling optimistic and joyful, they were a step closer. Harry mentally counted, three down, four to go. A smile spread on his face, and he joined in on the conversation.

Life in Godric's Hollow went on. Harry liked it there, it was comfortable and peaceful, even with the horrors taking place in other parts of the world. They feel in to a routine were Harry did the cooking, and Hermione the cleaning, Ron helped them both. They set up a Muggle television to be able to watch the news, Harry really wanted to see the effect Voldemort had on the Muggles. The result however was that Ron became addicted to football, and a major Manchester United fan. Harry and Hermione didn't really share his enthusiasm.

Usually Hermione was busy in the room they used as an office. They kept their books in there, most of them were Hermione's. She spent a lot of time researching the Horcruxes. Her stack of notes soon became at least a foot high. Professor McGonagall knew how important her work was, so she told her to write to her if she needed any book in the library so it could be sent to her. Hermione did not need to be asked twice, she used this opportunity regularly. One time she got Remus and Tonks to take her to Diagon Alley to get some special books, and of course more parchment and quills. Harry sat there with her sometimes and they had long discussions about the Prophecy, Rowena Ravenclaw, snakes and Voldemort. Hermione collected paintings of Ravenclaw from books, trying to spot objects that could have made it through the centuries and ended up becoming Horcruxes. She also discovered that Hepzibah Smith was in fact Zacharias Smith's father's aunt. Harry wanted to talk to him, and he had also been wanting to talk to Hagrid for some time.

A rainy afternoon Harry apparated to Hogsmeade, he would have liked to take a look around, but the weather made Hagrid's hut more tempting. He ran half the way and soon found himself outside the door. When he knocked he heard eager barks, and Hagrid opened the door.

"Harry! I was worried when yeh didn' come ter school this year, I mean, a lot o' kids were gone, but you I was sure nothin' could scare away from Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall told me yeh were safe, I've had tea with her a few times. She's doin' a great job, Dumbledore's shoes aren' easy to fill. They were very close yeh know, I see her by his tomb ev'ry day." By the time Hagrid stopped talking Harry had taken a seat, and Hagrid was offering him a cup of hot chocolate.

"Yeah, you know, Hogwarts is not the same for me without Dumbledore, " Harry said, not sure how to explain. "I felt that my place during the war was not at Hogwarts..."

"I knew yeh'd be importan', an' if I can help yeh with anythin', jus' say the word."

"Thanks, that means a lot to me." In fact simply being in Hagrid's hut made Harry relax, and feel safer. Sometimes Harry wondered if maybe this was what it was like to have a grandfather to visit. A very tall dragon-obsessed grandfather. For a long time they talked about Ron, Hermione, Witherwings and Grawp. In the end Harry had to go, he wanted to get to the library in good time before curfew. He was supposed to pick up a couple books for Hermione.

Walking into Hogwarts felt strange, he had his own house now, but this would always be the first place he could remember feeling at home. The library was a bit crowded when he got there, and he was very pleased to see Zacharias Smith sitting at a table with Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchly. After he collected Hermione's books, he walked over to their table. He sat down next to Zacharias, everyone looked up and greeted him while looking a bit surprised. Harry tried to act like he wasn't doing anything unusual.

"So, how's the new Defence teacher?" he said, trying not to rush into the subject he really wanted to talk about.

"I think the boys should answer that!" Hannah replied, sounding a little hurt, and shooting a glare at Justin. He happened to be looking in the opposite direction.

"Er... she's... very nice," Zacharias told him when he realized no one else were going to answer.

"Oh yeah? Just nice? Come on, you guys have been talking about how sexy she is for weeks," Hannah said. Harry now realized that apparently Gryffindors weren't the only ones who got jealous.

"She held an interesting lesson today, about South-American wizards. They used a lot of terrible dark magic over there in the old days according to the legends." Zacharias tried to smooth over the tension. "I think she's Mexican."

"Where's Ernie?" Harry asked to change the subject.

"His family didn't want him to come here any more now that Dumbledore's gone. He's being home-schooled. Lots of parents want to keep their kids nearer now. I think there's only half as many students here as there used to be. The ones who do come are mostly the ones like me and Hannah who has more family at this school than at home. And a lot of Muggle-borns don't want to lose contact with the magical world," Susan said. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Not much, I try to read a bit so I won't fall to much behind when I'm not in school. Guess that's Hermione's influence speaking. I read an interesting story somewhere about a woman named Hepzibah Smith, she doesn't happen to be a relative of yours does she?" Harry tried to make it sound casual, this was his only chance at getting information from Zacharias.

"She was my father's aunt, but she died years ago. Quite mysterious too. I assume what you read was about her collection?"

"Oh yeah, fascinating stuff, some of it from the founders themselves right?"

"That's right, unfortunately those items went missing after her death. She used to live in next to the river in Adderley, I think her old house burned down nearly twenty years ago though, so there's only ruins-" Zacharias was interrupted by Madam Pince who informed them that they had to start packing up and get to their common rooms before curfew. Harry had gotten as much information as he could hope for. He was a bit intrigued by the destruction of the building. He was pleased when he headed home. This time he took the time to stop at the Three Broomsticks and get a Butterbeer, for old times sake. If he went home he'd end up watching football with Ron.

Hermione thanked him for the books, then made him repeat everything he'd heard to her, she actually took notes while he was talking. Clearly they needed to pay Adderley a visit sometime in the near future.

Three days later Remus, Tonks and Kingsley came to their house to check up on how they were doing. Harry filled them in on what they had come up with, it really wasn't much, but they agreed that a trip to Adderley was in order. They decided to go the following afternoon.

By six o'clock the next day the six of them were standing in the middle of a ruin in the outskirts of Adderley. After twenty years most of the ashes were washed away, and there was little left of the large house, trees were growing all around it. In twenty more years no one would be able to tell something was there unless they stumbled over it. Harry pulled out his magic detector and pointed it in the general direction of the house. It started buzzing and vibrating, he moved it around to the different parts of the ruins, most of it set of a reaction, so it was hard to pinpoint were they should look. Apparently the ruin was full of magic. They spread out and started examining the ruin more closely. It was hard to see anything because the floor was covered in rubbish.

After maybe half an hour Tonks called out. Everyone walked over to her, she was in the back of the house. She showed them a trapdoor previously hidden under a couple of broken chairs. Only Kingsley were able to get it open, it was unsurprisingly very dark down there. Tonks muttered "lumos", then climbed down. Remus followed, then Harry.

Harry had only just set foot on the stone-floor, when he heard a gasp and saw Remus rush forward. At the same time he was starting to feel dizzy. In Remus' wand-light he saw Tonks lying on the floor.

"I think there's something in the air here, I'm starting to feel weird!" Hermione said, she'd climbed down after Harry. Quickly they cast the Bubble-Head Charm on themselves. After a few breaths Harry started to feel better. Hermione proceeded to casting the charm on Remus and Tonks. Both Hermione and Harry had used the charm frequently during their fifth year, so they were more familiar with it. Remus carried Tonks upstairs. He said he'd take her to St. Mungo's. She was smaller than Remus and spent the longest in the basement, that's why she'd been the one who collapsed. Harry now became eager to continue as this seemed a clear sign that they were on the right track.

Harry and Hermione walked across the room, closely followed by Ron and Kingsley. There was nothing there, at least nothing visible. They reached a door. Harry tried to open it, but it was locked. Hermione tried Alohomora and several other spells she knew. Still nothing happened. Harry then pulled out his knife. It was a lot more complicated then the one he got from Sirius, with more attachments and several blades. He had to try a lot of different things, after about fifteen minutes he miraculously got the door open.

Harry cautiously opened the door and peered inside. The room seemed empty except for a small table with what Harry excitedly assumed was Hufflepuff's cup on a small table. The problem was the metal bars between them and the table. It looked like a prison cell, except the golden cup was the prisoner. They all walked inside. Harry used the magic detector, but nothing remotely magical seemed to be present in the room, except for themselves and the cup. Carefully Harry tried to levitate the cup over to the bars, but he wasn't surprised to see that the cup didn't fit. It was about a tenth of an inch to big. He set the cup back down, and the four of them started examining the bars.

It didn't take long to realize that neither magic, physical force, the knife or even heat did anything at all to the metal. They all sat down against the wall.

"Maybe with some better tools we could dig a hole in the stone," Hermione suggested. Harry considered this for a moment.

"Well-"

"Look! The bars are farther apart down here," Ron exclaimed, pointing. Sure enough, the third and forth bar from the left had a slightly wider gap between them near the floor. Hermione quickly levitated the cup through the hole and into Harry's backpack.

When they were back in Godric's Hollow, they met Remus and Tonks. They were fine, although the doctors didn't quite know what they had breathed in. Tonks was resting on the sofa under a blanket. Harry had never seen her sleep before, it was amusing because she kept making little changes to her appearance in her sleep. At the moment her hair was growing at an alarming speed.

Destroying the Horcrux was no challenge this time. Remus sent his Patronus to Minerva, and within an hour they were drinking tea and cocoa.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A cold night at the end of November Harry walked in to the living-room. Ron and Hermione seemed to have been watching a movie together under a blanket. Now Hermione was asleep against Ron's shoulder. Harry quietly sat down in his favourite chair, smiling. Crookshanks jumped into his lap, and lay down purring. Everything was peaceful for a while, when Crookshanks suddenly lifted his head. A moment later Harry spotted a grey owl outside the window. Harry took her inside and removed the note. There were only two words scribbled on the note: Glasses orphanage

Harry started the words for a while, orphanage, that sounded like it might have something to do with Voldemort. In the end Ron asked what was wrong, Hermione had woken up too.

"I-I got this weird note..." He handed it to Ron. Suddenly Hermione sat up straight.

"The glasses, of course!" She ran in to the office and came back with page from a book in her hand. "She's always wearing them, it's perfect."

"Do you know who the note's from? It might be a trick," said Ron.

"Well, no... but we sort of have to check it out. It's our only lead, and we can't sit around and wait for the Horcrux to fall into our hands."

"You're right I guess," Ron pulled Hermione back to him with a serious expression on his face. "So, do we know where the orphanage is?"

"Actually I read about that in a book a few days ago, it's the Stockwell Orphanage near Vauxhill Road in London," Hermione responded.

"Great! Remus is coming over tomorrow, we'll fill him in then. He'll probably like to come with us, maybe we should talk to Moody too." Harry was thrilled that they actually were getting somewhere again.

Remus, like Ron, had been concerned about the origin of the note, but he too agreed that they had to give it a shot. He also talked to Moody and got him to come, they needed him in such a risky operation.

Harry spent a few hours over the next week checking out the orphanage from under his invisibility cloak. With so many people around at all times it would be hard to get the five of them in undetected. What they were looking for would probably be in the basement, away from the kids. Harry decided the best time to get in was at 6 o'clock. Then they all went inside for dinner, and he noticed that the dining room was in the floor above the entrance. The meals were generally noisy, so any suspicious sounds should quite effectively drown in the noise.

The following afternoon Remus and Moody met up with the rest of them. They covered themselves in invisibility cloaks. Ron and Remus shared the one Harry got from Dumbledore, while Harry and Hermione used the other. Moody had his own. It was tricky, but minimized the risk of being caught. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and counted, "1-2-3." It worked like a charm. They landed safely in London, still covered by the cloak. They walked closer to the front-door while leaving white footprints behind. Soon a second pair followed them, and Moody's came last. It was hard to avoid crashing into each other this way, so they moved slowly while trying to figure out where the others stood.

Harry slid open the front-door. He immediately noticed the narrow stairs leading down to the basement. Quietly they edged down until they were safe in what apparently was used as a bathroom. A bench lined one wall and a row of sinks the other. A wide opening lead in to a room of showers, and on the opposite side Harry noticed a closed door. They took off the cloaks and stuffed them safely away. Ron started walking towards the door, and his hand was on the handle when Moody ran forwards and pulled his arm away.

"You won't be able to open it that way, because it's a trap, and he wouldn't risk Muggles setting it off." Moody motioned for them to step back. He positioned himself left of the door, and pointed his wand at the door. They saw a flash of blue and then the door open slowly. Moody backed further away. When the door was about half-open ten sharp swords came out of nowhere flying through the opening, then crashed into the wall between the showers.

"See? Now you can go."

They all walked in. Remus sealed the door behind him so no kids could stumble across them. This room was rather large, and full of boxes, old furniture rags, worn-out shoes, faded paintings and other worthless things they could barely make out in the weak wand-light.

"Well, there has to be a door somewhere right? No wizard would want to guard this junk so badly," Harry said, and started walking around the room. For a while they all looked, but the walls appeared solid. Harry pulled out the faithful magic detector. It surprisingly started buzzing and vibrating quite strongly when he pointed it towards roughly the middle of the room, the signal seemed weaker some other places, and sometimes there were none at all.

"I guess we'll need to start going through all this junk then!" Ron opened a box. "Only old news-papers in here." After ten minutes, he had more fortune.

"I found some glasses... in fact, I found a whole box of them! Some are broken though." Hermione rushed over to him, and started digging through them. Harry had been following the different signals, so far he'd only found half a wand, a cracked orb, a book he didn't dare open and a quill without a tip. When he pointed the magic detector on the box he got no reaction at all. He waved it around and pointed it at individual pairs, but nothing happened.

"I don't think this is it," he said, disappointed.

"No, I don't recognise anything from the pictures." Hermione sounded disappointed too. The search continued. Just as Harry was looking at a weird old sneakoskope, it was Hermione's turn to call out.

"I found them!" Her wand-light flickered, apparently she was jumping with joy. Harry double-checked with the detector, and the signal was nice and clear. They stumbled back out into the bathroom. The light was blinding. They hurriedly apparated back to Godric's Hollow.

The glasses where clearly ancient, the glass was very thick, and the frames were broad and made of strong iron. They looked very uncomfortable, but Harry could understand that Ravenclaw, in his mind pictured as an avid bookworm wouldn't give up on books because of problems with her sight. It was probably her books who gave her the problems to begin with.

"So... how should we destroy them?" Harry asked.

"Too bad we don't have a convenient volcano around here," Ron said in a fake serious voice.

"I guess we conjure up some incredibly warm fire, and just melt them," Hermione suggested. "I think I know how to do that."

Harry went into the kitchen to make some dinner, Ron came and helped him. Remus and Moody stayed with Hermione. They made some pizza to celebrate. Forty-five minutes later the boys were called back into the living room. It was quite hot in there. Hermione had been crouching in front of the fireplace, now she straightened up.

"It won't get any warmer than this, I think we should try it now," she said while wiping her sweaty forehead with her sleeve. She walked to a safe distance, then levitated the pair of glasses into the middle of the green flames. The flames flickered, and still burned blazing hot. They waited anxiously for what felt like ages. Then suddenly, a loud bang and the familiar white cloud. Harry and Ron hugged Hermione, then walked away to get the pizza.

The winter went by like a wind. Actually more like a howling cold storm. Life in Godric's Hollow was quite pleasant, Harry enjoyed spending time with his two friends. They seemed to like spending time with each other too. They had many laughs in the evenings, playing games and watching TV. Regularly Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came over, often with Bill, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Moody. Then they discussed the more serious matters. A lot of unpleasant things happened in Britain during the winter. It was unnaturally cold, and several people froze to death, more than usual. Most of them were homeless, others were just old and unable to keep warm in their homes. A train mysteriously crashed right before Christmas, packed with Muggles on their way to visit their families for the holidays. For every incident Harry got more dedicated to tracking down Voldemort. Only Nagini and Voldemort himself was left of that gruesome snake of a man now.

In February the usual crowd had a meeting in Godric's Hollow. Everyone had been working the best they could towards their one goal. They had to know where Voldemort and Nagini were hiding. At this point they were noticing a certain pattern in the rumours buzzing around, in the Ministry, the Daily Prophet and in general among the wizards. The Black Forest, or like the locals said, Schwartzwald. It kept coming up in every meeting they had. Now they were almost sure this was the area to go for. Still, it was a very large area. They needed to narrow it down a lot. Remus volunteered to travel to Germany and look around. He had been unable to find a steady job for a while. Moody wanted to come with him, he was eager for some action now that he was retired. Clearly it would be safer to travel as a pair, and Harry couldn't imagine who would be better suited then the two of them. Both had special advantages after all. Remus had his keen werewolf-senses, Moody his amazing sight.

The timing had to be right for them to stand a chance, they couldn't attack in the middle of a big Death Eater meeting. And, they had to get to Nagini before Voldemort even knew they were there to be successful. They heard nothing from Remus and Moody for two weeks, Harry was getting worried, the full-moon was approaching fast. Then one morning they were awakened by a vigorous knocking on the door. The three of them walked downstairs and let Remus and Moody in. Remus looked even more shabby than usual, they both did.

"We found him," Moody muttered as they stumbled past the teens and sat down, exhausted, leaving wet footprints behind.

"That's great." Harry was delighted to hear news about Voldemort.

"Yes, it was well hidden, to me it looked like a dense part of the forest, and a small mountain. We were flying over it on broomsticks. Moody were able to look past the camouflage, so we flew low into the trees. Then I could see it too. A grassy clearing under the trees and a small castle. I saw a few people, they were dressed like Death Eaters. We were only there for about an hour, but we even saw Nagini once, she slithered out the gate and curled up in front of it for a while. Like a creepy dog guarding her master. The castle's exact location is plotted on this map," Remus pulled out a tattered piece of paper.

They spent more than a month digging around to find the right time to strike. Harry got more impatient every day, horrible news of deaths and destruction were in the papers nearly daily now, he had a strong urge to stop it all. Remus, Tonks, Moody and Bill went on several trips each to have a look at the castle and monitor how many wizards were there. In early March Bill reported that he had seen a group of vampires visiting. Clearly they had to act soon, before Voldemort could gather any more allies. Harry, Hermione and Ron were hardly ever alone in the cottage now. Remus, Moody, Tonks, Bill, Kingsley, Minerva, Arthur and Molly were there almost every day.

The strategy they came up with was that they would port-key to a small clearing shielded from the rest of the open area, and hardly visible from the castle, Arthur would be able to set up the port-key. They would wear invisibility cloaks to further avoid detection. They could not move towards the castle until they were able to dispose of Nagini. McGonagall brought over Godric Gryffindor's sword. It was the one Harry used to kill the Basilisk in second-year, she figured it should do the trick on Nagini as well. Kingsley had talked to Dawlish, the Auror. He now knew that they had something planned and would be ready to summon the other Aurors when Kingsley sent the word.

One day word came from Bill that many of the less important Death Eaters were leaving, and a couple high-ranking had arrived. He could tell because those who left showed great respect for those who came. He suggested that Voldemort was having an important meeting with his best men, and wanted to get the others out of the way. This was as good as they could hope for, at least there were slightly fewer Death Eaters present. The whole group had been gathered in the cottage at the time, so they needed no time getting ready. Kingsley sent an owl to Dawlish, telling him to get the Aurors ready, still Dawlish didn't know where they were going or what they were doing. He would be told later when the Aurors were needed. First they had to take care of Nagini.

Everything went down like they had planned, soon the group landed next to Bill in their secret spot. Minerva and Molly stayed behind, the headmistress never quite regained her strength after her run in with Umbridge, and Molly had her other children to worry about. Everyone was under a invisibility cloak, they had managed to get together five of them. Harry was the only one who didn't share with anyone when Ron snuck over to Bill's.

No one was outside the castle when they arrived, they had to be patient. After ten minutes five people walked through the gates, then disapparated. A while after that a single person appeared out of thin air in front of them and walked inside. Harry's feet were getting stiff when finally Nagini slithering and curled up in her usual manner. Harry had to get closer. He carefully walked through the trees between them and out into the open, then he stopped.

"Nagini..." Harry tried to lure her over to him using Parseltongue. "Nagini..." the snake lifted her head, and started gliding in his direction. Harry's hand moved to the sword he had fastened to his side. He had to move fast once she got close enough. He'd practised lifting his cloak and getting the sword out in one swift movement at home. It was a great that no one was around to see him.

The large snake was only five feet away. Four. Harry tightened his grip on the sword. Three feet. Harry threw of the cloak with his left arm, and pulled out the sword with his right. The snake had no time to react, in the blink of an eye the sword had severed it's head. A white mist rose from the cut, and faded away. Harry dropped the sword and grabbed his cloak. Quickly he flung it back over his shoulders to cover himself, he didn't want to be a big target right in the middle of Voldemort's yard.

He retreated back into the dark forest where the others were waiting, the night was drawing nearer now. Kingsley told him that the Aurors were on their way, and it didn't take very long for them to arrive. They appeared at the edge of the clearing in the twilight, Harry's nerves eased for a moment when he saw around fifty allies with their wands ready. They hastily took cover between the trees, Harry removed his cloak and joined them, followed by the rest of his group.

They saw movement in the castle now, and after five minutes twenty Death Eaters came out and positioned themselves on the opposite side of the clearing. They were so far away that they could easily dodge any spells sent their way, it was useless. Then another three masked men appeared by their side, a moment later two more. Still the dark side were out-numbered two to one, but their situation was steadily improving. The Aurors were starting to move closer, a few spells were fired from both sides, still unsuccessful. Suddenly they all froze, a gap had formed in the middle of the Death Eaters ranks, behind them a tall figure was approaching. The man they all feared was in their midst. Voldemort stopped in front of his tiny army, waiting, behind him the gap was filled by Wormtail, the traitor.

Harry walked towards Voldemort determined to hold his head high and look straight into the red eyes of the gruesome monster. Spells flew past him, but none hit their target. It wasn't his fate to be killed by a nameless minion it seemed. Soon he was no longer watched by the Aurors and the Death Eaters, they were busy in combat. He and Voldemort might as well have been alone. Harry stopped thirty feet away from his adversary. Between them lay nothing more than green grass.

"So, you think you can match me? The greatest dark wizard of all times?" Voldemort sneered. "Take your best shot, make me feel pain! Or are you too good for the Unforgivables boy?" Harry couldn't help doing what he was instructed to do, he wanted to make the old bastard feel pain after all, and it bought him a few extra minutes.

"Crucio." Harry knew the curse all to well. It hit Voldemort in the right shoulder, but he barely flinched.

"Honestly, is that the best you can do boy? Try again." Voldemort's laugh made Harry's insides squirm. Harry wanted so badly to shut him up.

"Crucio!" Harry's spell hit Voldemort in the thigh, and made him take a step back, but it was miles from the desired effect. Voldemort raised his wand at him.

"Do I have to show you again how it works?" he laughed. "Crucio!" The pain that consumed Harry was overwhelming and made him loose control of his body completely. He was twisting and screaming in agony for what felt like hours. When the pain faded away he found himself lying on the ground, covered in dirt and grass. "Don't you want to kill me now?" Voldemort said sweetly. Harry knew he was playing with him. He tried to build up all the anger and pain he could.

"Avada Kedavra." The familiar flash of green light hit Voldemort in the stomach. He didn't even look scared, but let out a gasp. Harry was disappointed that it didn't work, although he hadn't really expected it to.

"Try again!" Voldemort commanded. "If you can't do it, I'll have to show you this one too!" Harry swallowed hard, it was getting dark around him, the flashes of light like fireworks. Just as he was raising his wand once more, thinking it would be the last time he ever did so, he saw a familiar face lit up by an eerie green jet of light. Ron. He had been fighting behind Voldemort. Harry saw him get hit in the chest. His best-friend fell to the ground. Harry felt glued to the spot even though he wanted to rush over to him. His vision got blurred with unshed tears. The anger suddenly filled every inch of his body.

"What are you waiting for boy, are you too afraid? Too bad your dear mother isn't here to protect you this time." The voice snapped Harry out of the trace, before he could even think his body had acted for him. Instinct told him one think, this had to stop. Now.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry felt he powerful words make their way out of his mouth. Voldemort never knew what was coming. He still had a fearless and confident look on his face when he feel.

Harry took a few steps forward. For a moment he stood frozen over the still form of Voldemort, the flood of emotions blended together in his head so he were unable to think. A girlish scream made him lift his gaze just as Hermione fell sobbing to the ground next to Ron. Harry stepped over Voldemort's dead body, and slowly made his way over to his friends. Hermione looked at him, her eyes mirrored his own feelings. Grief, anger and, over-shadowed by everything else, relief that it was over. Her tears made a path through the dirt on her left cheek. For an eternity the two sat holding each other and Ron, who's blue eyes would never again be open.

Ron's funeral took place four days after the Battle of the Black Forest. They wanted to lay him to rest as soon as possible. Percy had been there too, and the Weasleys seemed to have come to a quiet understanding. Harry vaguely remembered this fact, because it was only the second time he saw Percy in a year, both times had been in a funeral.

Too many others had also been buried that same week. Sixteen Aurors. Ollivander who's bones where found in the dungeons during the clean-up. Florean Fortescue had been severely dehydrated, but alive. Both had been dumped there when they no longer served a purpose. Fortescue had been questioned for days about relics dating from the founders age. History had been a life-long interest of his, and especially Hogwarts. Maybe Voldemort wanted decoys for the real Horcruxes. Ollivander had made his last wand, thankfully it wouldn't be the one to kill Harry or anyone else anymore. He'd been told that it had been burned along with the rest of Voldemort's body. Nobody felt that he deserved a funeral.

After all the action Harry couldn't stomach the thought of becoming an Auror anymore. Of course, he hadn't finished school either, but he'd been promised an opportunity to train for a position anyway by Otto Ansgar, the new Head of the Aurors. That happened at the party after he had received his Order of Merlin First Class. It had been eight days after the Battle of the Black Forest, the clean-up had just ended. By his side Hermione, Kingsley, Moody, Tonks and Remus stood. Ron's medal was given to Mr. Weasley. Together they had been at the frontline. Mrs. Weasley was not present at the ceremony. The shock had been hard on her, and she was mourning the loss of her youngest son deeply. Second Class medals had been given to the thirty-nine Aurors still standing after the battle, and to the families of the sixteen who fell between the dark trees.

Harry and Hermione stayed in Godric's Hollow. The first few months they hardly did anything other than the normal rituals. Harry never felt more alone than when he was making dinner, and Ron weren't there to make jokes. Hermione spent a lot of time in front of the TV, curled up under a blanket. The had many long talks about their worries and memories. After a while they could talk about Ron without crying. Still, their lives felt strangely empty. Especially Harry didn't quite know what to do with himself. For ages he'd been on a mission, now he was free to be normal. He felt like he didn't know how. He sometimes wondered if he could ever be normal, he'd been through so much, there were so much grief. His happiest memory was from when he and Hermione went for a walk in the park. It was the middle of May. Birds were singing, and everything was green once again. They walked down the path towards the pond. A cluster of tulips had sprung out in bright red, yellow and orange. Swimming around side by side in the pond where two ducks. One of them was bright white, the other had some brown feathers. Harry had half a doughnut in his hand, and casually threw a small piece of it towards them. Both ducks reacted immediately, they reached the food at the same time and after a bit of fighting and flapping their wings, the brown duck ate it. When he threw in the rest of the doughnut, Hermione started cheering for the white duck to get it. The two ducks were swimming like crazy.

"Come on, Draco, you can take him. Stand up for yourself! Don't let him take all your food." Hermione encouraged the poor bird. She sounded so funny, Harry joined in.

"No, Hagrid, you're the champion here, scrawny blondes are no match for you!"

"Move your lazy ass, Draco... see what happened now? He practically stole the food from your mouth... beak!" Hermione tried to look furious, but could only hold it for a second. They both plopped down on a bench. Harry sat there giggling like a girl at the absurdity of their little game. The mental image of a swimming contest between Draco and Hagrid was suddenly the funniest thing he had thought of in weeks.

Hermione became restless after a while. She was used to having something to work with, home-work or research. She talked to Professor McGonagall, and decided to go back to school in the fall. Harry didn't want to, his friends weren't there anymore, and he was sick of being famous Harry Potter, which he felt was all strangers saw him as.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The light breeze felt slightly colder on Harry's skin now, a small shiver pulled him out of his own thoughts. Even though he was sure it was close to midnight, the sky above him did not mirror the dark thoughts that had been swirling around inside him only moments before. The sun was no longer visible, but behind him the sky was still light blue because the sun was so near the horizon. Over the fjord it was darker. Harry smiled, moving to Norway during summer had been a lovely idea, he could never have imagined that nature could be so spectacular or beautiful. He didn't live far enough north to be able to see the sun even at midnight, but the nights were still quite bright. Of course, the winter would be equally dark, the sun would only be up for a few hours each day. He somehow liked the thought of that too. One of many lessons he'd learned in life was that few things was as easy as black or white. But some things still was.

Anyway, it was now he needed to fill his heart with light. Before he came here he had been walking around aimlessly drowning in grief and darkness. After spending all evening on the balcony his legs were starting to feel stiff, but his head had cleared like the sky after heavy rain. Healing would take a long time, but he was young. He would have the opportunity to start a family of his own, in the meantime, the Weasleys were a good substitute for his own parents, Remus felt like an uncle, and Hermione... Well, sister wasn't good enough, she was the person who meant the most to him in the world. They had been through everything together, entering the unknown world of magic, going to school, working through many tasks, and in the end, loosing Ron. They were better than a lot of biological families.

No friendship could equal the one he had with Ron, but he would make new friends to take away some of the loneliness. Neville had come over to his house a few times during the last year, Seamus and Dean showed up one time too. Harry had felt awkward. Everything was so different without Ron around, and when he met old friends of them both it only reminded him strongly about the loss of his best friend. The best times where some of the ones spent with Hermione, when he found himself feeling close to normal, and even cheerful.

When Harry finally felt like he had landed after the long and devastating war sent him emotionally and mentally flying into airless space, he started searching for a job. The content of his vault had shrunk considerably, but it had been necessary. In the end he got a job in the Nordic Ministry of Magic. It was located in Norway, but dealt with wizards from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland too. Sometimes even Greenland, but not many wizards were born there, and no adult wizards lived there full-time. He was going to start out in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, apparently the old Head of Office had been a pain in the ass, growing old, and becoming more stubborn with every year. In the end only one other man could stand to work with him. When they both decided to retire the Office were in need of at least three new employees. The Nordic Ministry covered quite a large area, and the law-breaking involving Muggle Artefacts had been growing out of hand with the lack of man-power to control it.

Harry had been told about the job by Arthur when he came around for Fred and George's 21st birthday party. It had been a rather quiet gathering as everyone were painfully aware of Ron's absence. It had almost been a year. The evening ended quite early when Mrs. Weasley broke down. Her husband and eldest son took her hands and lead her to her bed. It wasn't the first time, but according to Fred it happened less frequently. The last time was three weeks earlier. That day the family had been gathered by Bill and Fleur in their flat, and they shared with them the happiness of expecting their first child. Molly had been ecstatic at the time, fussing over Fleur and attacking Bill with fierce hugs every chance she got. Ten minutes after they got home however, they found her sobbing over the laundry, clutching Ron's old Canon's T-shirt in her hands.

Harry didn't mind moving to Norway at all. It was nice to get some privacy, a new environment, and a change in surroundings. He was clueless about the language, but was assured that Nordic wizards were very used to difficulties in communication. After all the Ministry covered people with at least five different languages. More and more were quite good at English. The general rule was to speak slowly, and use sign-language, pointing and drawing to overcome the largest barriers.

Harry had no trouble finding the Ministry when he went there for his first day. It was an ordinary building that blended in perfectly with the rest of the street in Oslo. He entered through the large front-doors, the hall was quite large, but rather empty. He walked over to a friendly blonde woman sitting behind a large desk. When he presented himself she smiled even wider, then handed him a few sheets of paper. He looked at the first one for a moment, confused, he could only understand a few words.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to translate them for you," the blonde witch said, then tapped the papers with her wand. The letters seemed to rearrange themselves instantly.

"Thank you, much better." Harry smiled back at her.

"Your office is on the forth floor," she said, and pointed to the elevator. "Have a nice day!" Harry thanked her and started walking. He looked at the large sign next to the elevator while he waited, it had numbers on it referring to the different floors, and a name in large writing next to each number. Every five seconds the name changed, after looking at in for a moment he spotted Department of Magical Law Enforcement next to the number 4. Apparently the sign showed the names of the different departments in several languages.

Harry was the only one going up, actually, he'd only seen three people the whole time he'd been there. It was far less crowded than the British Ministry of Magic. Therefore he was surprised when he stepped out of the elevator on the forth floor. The level of noise was a lot higher than in the entrance hall, and the corridor connecting the offices was quite crowded. He looked around, uncertain where to go, after a minute another man walked in behind him.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office?" Harry asked him.

"Yeah, you go to the left and it's the third office you see," the man answered with a smile. His English was fairly good. Harry thanked him and set off in the right direction.

The room he entered was smaller than the other two he had walked past. It held a table with comfortable chairs around, and two desks. One wall was covered in shelves crammed with papers, books and folders. Two chairs were occupied.

"Is this the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office?" Harry asked. The man on the left responded in a deep voice.

"Sure is." He got out of his chair and held out his hand. "I'm Daniel Strand." Harry shook his hand.

"Harry Potter." Harry turned to the other man who had gotten up too.

"Tuomas Nieminen, I'm the new head of this office."

Daniel looked quite young, no more than five years older than Harry. He was a broad-shouldered man, but not very tall. His eyes looked very kind and smiling under his dark hair. Tuomas seemed to be a bit older, but still probably younger than Harry's father would have been. He was tall and slim, and his messy blonde hair almost reached his shoulders. They all sat down, and Tuomas started talking. He spoke in English, but with a very noticeable accent.

"As you might know, we're all new to this Ministry. Our group is young, but I'm sure we'll do a great job. Between us we have to talk English, as it's the only language we all speak. I'm from Finland, but I've worked in the British Ministry for several years, the last two in their Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Here I have a couple copies of the standard rules and routines we're going to work with." He handed Harry and Daniel an official looking folder each. "You should read that as soon as possible, it will give you a better idea about what we'll be working with." He was then cut of by the telephone. Harry was surprised that they used phones in the Ministry, but on second thought he figured that it really was a fast way to communicate. Tuomas answered, and after a brief conversation he addressed them again.

"It seems we already have our first case. A vacuum cleaner is cleaning on it's own accord in Kajaani, only it's not as much cleaning as it is wreaking the poor lady's beloved plants. I think I'll go on my own this time, and you two can start reading. I should be back soon, then we'll go grab some lunch." He walked out with a wave. Daniel sat back more comfortably in his chair, and turned to Harry.

"So, how did you end up here?"

"Well, a friend told me that the position was available, and it's seemed like a good idea. Interesting country and all that." Harry didn't fully know how to explain the situation to a stranger, nor did he feel comfortable doing it.

"I bet it's nice to get a little peace and quiet after all the action too?" Daniel said, and Harry nodded in agreement. "You picked a nice country then! I'm from Norway, but after school I went to stay with family in America, and I ended up living in Boston for a few years. In the end I wanted to go back to Norway, guess I'm not a city boy." They talked some more, but both of them wanted to make a good impression on their first day at work, so they soon started looking through the folders Tuomas gave them.

After an hour of reading Tuomas returned, and they headed for the cafeteria. On the way Harry saw witches and wizards of all shapes and ages. Here and there he noticed a few English words, but mostly he didn't have a clue what languages he heard. It was very nice to be out in public again, after spending most of the last year alone or with friends. Here fewer people looked at him, and he could live some curious glances now and then. In England he had a strange feeling that everyone were looking at him all the time. Maybe it was his imagination playing tricks on him, but he still liked it better in his new environment, at least for now.

Harry peeked into the offices he walked by, some of them were very large with many people and desks. Once he got eye-contact with a young blonde girl with a wide smile on her face. She was listening to another girl with a flower in her long black hair. He only saw them for a moment, but he suddenly felt warm inside.

Their lunch was very tasty. When they got back they went through some of the routines they needed to follow. Then they had another call, a man in Sandnes was a bit freaked out because his hedge shears were trimming his hedge by itself, and forming it into a dragon. This time they all went, and by the end of the day Harry was still laughing at the look on Daniel's face when he was being chased by the out-of-control hedge shears.

The first week went by fast, Harry learned a lot, and in between he had a fun time with the two others. In the beginning he and Daniel would work together on cases, to get some more experience. After a month they would do most of the work alone. One day Harry walked over to the cafeteria alone because he just got back, and the two others were still out. He got himself some food and sat down at a vacant table. Half-way into his sandwich he looked up and saw a familiar face. Parvati Patil was walking towards him while balancing a glass of juice and a plate on her tray. She was looking around for a place to sit down. Harry caught her eye and waved her over to his table. She hadn't changed much he thought, although her own robes suited her a lot better than the black ones they used to wear for school. She was now dressed in red, and the fabric looked much softer. She was also wearing even more jewelry than she used to, and it was not like anything he'd seen in England.

"Hi! This is the last place I expected to see you," Parvati said, then sat down.

"I could say the same thing." Harry hadn't seen her since before Dumbledore's death.

"Well, I got a very interesting job-offer, so here I am," Parvati said. "They were gathering a group here at the Ministry to research the runes from the Viking-age. A lot of them are about Runekasting, I wrote an essay about it for Professor Trelawney in sixth year. I thought it was interesting, but I couldn't find much about it. Now I get to learn more first-hand!"

"That's great, my story isn't that interesting. I was more interested in moving to this country than the actual job. I like both now though," Harry responded.

"I like this country too. It's a nice change after spending a year with my family in India. It's lovely country, and very interesting, but I prefer Europe," she admitted. "It was nice to learn more about my family, but a year was enough for me."

"Does Padma live here too?" Harry asked.

"No, she went back to Hogwarts. I was planning to do the same, but changed my mind when I got this job." Harry nodded, then checked his watch.

"I should get back to work," Harry said, then hesitated. "Er... would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime? It's nice to hear proper English again, especially from a fellow Gryffindor." Parvati smiled.

"Sure, I'd like that," she said. Harry felt very relieved.

"Great, how about tomorrow? We could meet outside the Ministry, maybe 6 o'clock?"

"Okay, see you then," she answered. Harry walked back to the office, he hadn't felt this happy in a long time. Daniel was there when he returned.

"You look like you just won the lottery," he said. Harry started looking through some papers on his desk, trying to look busy.

"Really, that's odd," Harry responded vaguely. "I have to go, those pesky fountains downtown are acting up again."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Parvati was waiting on the steps in front of the Ministry when Harry approached. He'd rarely seen her in Muggle clothing before, she looked lovely. She wore black pants and high-heels, and she had tied a colourful embroidered scarf around her hips. Her jacket was purple and matched the scarf. "Hi," Harry said. "Lovely evening isn't it?" Parvati agreed, smiling brightly. They decided to walk down the street and find a nice place to eat. Neither of them were familiar with the area yet, but they could see many "restaurant"-signs, and other people there.

They didn't have to walk far, one of the first ones they saw was a nice place that looked quite popular. The name contained a few weird letters, and neither of them could figure out how to pronounce it. They walked inside, it was warm and pleasant. The smell of food that lingered in the air was delicious, Harry instantly felt hungry. They got a table, and started flipping through the menu. They agreed that chicken with salad and rice seemed like a good, simple choice. While waiting for their food Parvati told him more about her year in India.

"My entire family went, we were very fortunate to have that opportunity. My dad runs his own business, but he doesn't have to be present all the time, he took a trip back once a month. He's quite successful actually, he started a restaurant in London when he was in his twenties, now he owns three in the area. Before you ask, no, I have not inherited his skills with food." Harry laughed. "We stayed with my sister's family. She's ten years older than me and Padma, and her husband is from India. He used to live next to my grandparents, so they'd known each other since they were kids. Their house is quite big, so it was no problem really. My sister, Aparna, was happy to have us there, she had just had her second child. Her daughter was three at the time, and quite a handful, but very sweet. I really miss her now."

"Sounds like you had a good time, I stayed with Ron and Hermione in my parents old house during the war," Harry said.

"Yeah, I did. I'm sorry about Ron, I know he was a great friend to you. I can't believe how much misery you've had to endure. When we sit like this and talk, it's really hard to remember that you are the one they write about in the papers, and the hero of our country." Parvati gave him a sad look, and seemed to have trouble finding the right words. The arrival of their dinner was a welcome distraction.

"This looks delicious, it's one of my favourites, even if it's not very fancy," Harry said with a smile. Parvati nodded in agreement. They didn't talk much while they ate, only occasional small-talk about their work at the Ministry. When they finished it turned into reminiscing about their days at Hogwarts.

"One can say many things about Umbridge, but if it wasn't for her Hermione would never have though of the DA. It's one of the things that stick out when I think back, I had a great time there. And made a lot of friends too," Harry said.

"Yeah, the DA was very interesting, and I would have failed Defence miserably without it," Parvati agreed.

"You did well there, remember when you reduced the table carrying all the Sneakoscopes to dust?"

"I had a brilliant teacher," Parvati said, her eyes twinkled brightly, mirroring the flickering light from the candle.

"Thanks." The compliment warmed his heart. "I also remember a little girl who was convinced that I was as good as dead in third-year," he continued. Parvati giggled, a little embarrassed.

"Anyone other than you would have been by now. That's really the problem with Divination, there's always room for interpretation, nothing's definite."

Harry proceeded to tell her more about what he was up to in school, a lot had to be kept silent for his own and others' safety then, but now he was free to tell her everything he wanted.

When they realised that it was getting late they apparated to Parvati's house. It was small, and part of a village nestled in a valley. Harry stood in the garden in front of the house and admired the nature around.

"You see that small mountain over there?" Parvati pointed at a round peak slightly higher than the rest. "The people in the village seem very fond of it, they have a path going up to the top. It starts near here." She pointed to the edge of the forest. "I see people there all the time, especially on Sundays. I was thinking of going up there myself sometime. Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure, it would be nice. I've wanted to go for a walk in the forest myself," Harry said.

"Great, maybe you can come over on Saturday? We can get an early start then, around twelve?" Parvati asked.

"Sounds perfect, I'll see you then." Harry waved and apparated home.

Friday went by like a wind, everyone in Harry's office were busy. Harry was out nearly all day. When he got home he was exhausted. He couldn't be bothered to cook anything, even with the help of magic. A few days earlier he bought a pizza that he could just put right in the oven. He was rather pleased with the result too, it was surprisingly tasteful. He ended up falling asleep in front of the TV early, after discovering that there was nothing good on anyway. The last thing he remembered doing before he dozed of was cursing the rain that started pouring down. Hopefully it wouldn't last.

Parvati was already waiting in the tiny garden when he arrived. Both of them had done their best to find comfortable clothes and shoes to walk in. The weather had been lovely again when he left, and according to Parvati it hadn't rained at all in her area. They set of, happily chatting. They were both strongly reminded of the Care of Magical Creatures class when they smelled the fresh air between the tall trees.

After a while they reached a clearing, Parvati's house was visible from there. Parvati sat down on a rock, and ran her fingers over the moss.

"This is a really fascinating country, I feel so free and inspired. When I get home I might have to sit down and write a poem. It's a useful way of preserving memories, like pictures," she said.

"You like poetry? I didn't know that, I'd love to read some, even though I'm not usually into it myself."

"I'm sort of shy about it, I usually don't let people read it. I'll consider it," Parvati said. "I'm not really a great writer, but I enjoy it from time to time, my poems are usually short though."

"Like haikus," Harry asked jokingly. Parvati giggled.

"Not that short." Parvati got up, and continued walking.

The last part of the path was so narrow, they had to walk in line. Harry was in front, so he was the first to notice that they'd reached the top.

"We're almost there," he said, then grabbed Parvati's hand. They both jogged the last fifty feet. Then they stopped short, amazed by the view. They could see Parvati's tiny house, and the place where they entered the forest an hour earlier. A lake lay stretched out, and they could see the river leading the water into it, and a couple of small boats. Harry turned to look at Parvati. Her hair was slightly damp, and she was breathing heavily from the long walk up there. Her cheeks were blushing red in the wind, and she looked very cute.

The moment was so perfect, before Harry had time to think he leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. He looked into her eyes for a second, then both started laughing with excitement and let go of each other's hands.

"It's beautiful," Parvati breathed. For a while neither said anything, they just enjoyed the view. Then the chilling wind started creeping through their clothes. Harry felt his body shiver a little.

"It's getting cold, maybe we should get back?" Harry suggested. Parvati turned and looked down the path to where they started. She let out a small sigh.

"Apparate?" Parvati suggested. Harry laughed at her.

"Yeah," he said, and a moment later they were standing outside her house again.

"I had a great time, but now I really need a shower," Parvati said. "I usually have lunch around eleven o'clock, maybe I'll meet you on Monday?"

"I'll try to make it, I had a great time too," Harry responded, smiling. Parvati turned and started walking towards the door. Harry followed her with his eyes for a moment before he went home.

Harry didn't have time to meet her on Monday, right before lunch they got a call. Tuomas was in and answered the phone.

"Vittujen kevät!" Harry raised an eyebrow, didn't take a genius to figure out that what he said wasn't pretty. "We have a rather large job on our hands. A store in Copenhagen that sells shoes has gotten loads of complaints because their shoes seem to shrink when walked in. Several people has had to cut their shoes off. The store-owner's best guess is that he pissed someone off, and the cursed all his shoes. I think we're both needed here."

They didn't get back until before it was nearly time to go home. They only had time to file the paperwork. The next day Harry went to lunch as early as he could. Parvati showed up at precisely eleven. Harry quickly explained why he hadn't been there the day before.

"I see, I thought you just blew me off," she said, laughing, although somewhat nervously. Harry assured her that he would do no such thing, hoping that she wouldn't bring up the dreaded Yule Ball they went to together. He still felt bad about spending most of the night with Ron, looking at other girls. He'd been astonishingly stupid back then.

"You know, I've lived here for more than two months now, and I still have to spend an hour in the store when I'm shopping for grocery. Yesterday it took me forever just to find spaghetti, toothpaste and juice," Harry said, Parvati giggled.

"I have the same problem, and I worry when I'm going to try something new. Who knows what animal the meat's from! I don't think I've eaten dog-food yet though, but that's always my main concern." They continued talking until they realized it was time for work.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner sometime? I have spaghetti, at least I'm pretty sure I do," Harry said with a grin.

"That would be nice, I have to work late this week, how about Friday?"

"Since you don't know where I live, I'll come pick you up."

"Okay." Parvati got up. "I'll see you then."

"Bye," he said.

Harry knocked on her door the following evening, and Parvati opened at once.

"Hi," she said brightly. "Why don't you step inside for a moment?" Harry followed her into the warm living room. She told him to make himself comfortable, then headed for the bathroom. Her house was very different from his own house, smaller and more colourful. The walls were painted red, and she had several decorative lamps that Harry was sure had to be from India. There weren't much furniture in the room, it was a small space after all, but she had a rather large couch with a table in front that looked very comfortable. In the corner he spotted a tiny TV. Before he had time to look any further Parvati returned, she was wearing a low-cut green sweater, and a beige skirt. Her gold necklace and bracelets had green stones on them.

"You look lovely, are you ready to go? I should get back to the kitchen," Harry said, beaming.

"Thanks." Her smile widened. "Yeah, I'm ready." He took her hand and they disappeared. In a moment they were both standing in Harry's living room. The contrast between this room and the one they just left was huge. The walls were cold and white, and although he had more furniture he didn't have a lot of stuff to put on them. He brought some from Godric's Hollow, a few plants and pillows, but wasn't enough. He also put a lot of pictures up on the wall, most of them were moving. Parvati walked over to admire one of Harry's parents, it was taken on their wedding day. Harry had put it over the couch and felt comfort in watching them hug each other while waving at him.

"Are those... your parents?" Parvati asked in a low voice. Harry nodded. "I'm so sorry. They look incredibly happy."

"Yeah, they do," Harry answered, then changed the subject. "My place looks so empty and cold compared to yours. I don't really know what to do with it."

"I'm sure it will be great, you know, once you've settled in properly."

"I was considering getting a cat, I'm so used to Crookshanks now, it feels weird without him," Harry said.

"That would be nice, you might want to think about finding one that's a little bit cuter though." Harry laughed.

"I'll go get the dinner ready, you just make yourself comfortable." He gestured to the couch. Then he flicked his wand at the table and plates, glasses and cutlery appeared. Harry was thankful that Hermione taught him that one.

A few minutes later Harry came back with the spaghetti. Parvati was still looking at the pictures.

"What would you like to drink? I have water, coke and a bottle of wine."

"How about water with dinner, and then a glass of wine after?" Parvati suggested.

"Sounds great," Harry agreed. A moment later he came back with a mug filled with water in one hand, and a bottle in the other. "I don't know anything about wine, but I picked this up today at that place they sell alcohol, the Vinmonopoly or something. The lady who worked there recommended it. It's quite weak I think, but I'm not that used to alcohol anyway."

"I'm sure it's fine." Parvati took the bowl of spaghetti he held out to her.

Afterwards Harry cleared the table with another flick of his wand, again sending a silent thank-you to Hermione. He poured them each a glass of the red liquid, and carefully took a sip. He discovered that it didn't taste bad as long as he drank it slowly.

"So, when do you think the first snow is going to fall?" Parvati asked.

"It should be pretty soon, it's nearly December. I'm starting to see Santa Claus all over the place now." Parvati nodded.

"Yeah, yesterday I bought some candy at the store, a Santa made out of chocolate, and a fat white marzipan pig. They also have big cases of soda with very christmasy labels. I tried a bottle of that too, it was really good."

"Wow, you are getting brave, I haven't explored that much. My biggest discovery's that a Grandiosa is a perfectly good meal after a long day at work," Harry said.

"Really, what's that?"

"A pizza, you've seen them, the yellow boxes."

"Yeah, I think I have. They seem popular," Parvati said.

After several more laughs and half-way into the second glass they decided to turn on the TV, Harry switched through the channels, as usual on Fridays it was hard to find anything good. They ended up watching a comedy about two women going to their high school reunion, and by the time they flew off in the geek's helicopter, Parvati was leaning on Harry's shoulder. He turned his head to look at her, and when she noticed, she turned too. Parvati placed her hand lightly on his cheek and lifted herself up to kiss him. The kiss lasted for a while, then Parvati got up.

"It's getting late, I should get home now," she said, then stifled a yawn.

"Okay, it was nice to have you around, I hope we can do it again sometime."

"I'd like that, good night." Parvati vanished.

Over the next weeks they got together as often as possible, and they grew steadily more comfortable with one another. They watched a few more movies, better ones, they went sightseeing in Oslo, and had dinner together.

Late one night it started snowing. Harry walked outside, after looking at the snow falling for a minute, he apparated to Parvati's house. She looked confused when she opened her door. Harry grabbed her hand, and a moment later they were both standing on Harry's balcony.

"I wanted you to see this," he said. She smiled, shivering slightly in the cold. Harry put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close, giving her a little bit of his warmth. He leaned over and kissed her, their lips where cold and wet from the tiny snowflakes. Afterwards he brought her home again and bid her a good night with pleasant dreams.

The next morning an owl came to his window while he was preparing some cocoa to warm himself up. He let it in and removed the tiny note.

"My house, 7 o'clock?

White clouds above So frail The mountain Solid beneath In between Two souls So fragile One kiss Promising

-Paro"

He went over to her house at precisely seven that evening, but he had to wait a while for her to open the door. When they were walking into her kitchen she asked him:

"Did you get my owl?" Harry smiled at her nervous expression.

"Yeah, I did. It was beautiful, and so true to what you said about preserving special memories." Her face lit up in relief. "I was surprised though, I though you didn't want me to see it?"

"It was time."

They were standing close together in the narrow kitchen. Harry lifted his hand and let his fingers run through her long hair. For once it was hanging freely, with only a thin braid on the right side of her face. His hand came to rest on her curvy hip. He pulled her as close as possible, and kissed her on her forehead. She lifted her head so their lips could meet instead, and the kiss was very soft, but seemed to last forever. She lowered her head again so she could kiss his chin, then his neck while her arms wrapped around his waist.

"What about dinner," Harry muttered, not that he really cared.

"It's only a salad, it can wait," she told him, and let her lips find his again, like she wanted to shut him up. Her hands found their way under his shirt and slowly stroked his back, while his came down to the back of her jeans.

She took a step back and her fingers found the top button in his shirt. It came undone, so did another one and a third. She leaned in to kiss the exposed skin. Harry pulled the shirt off over his head and it landed on a convenient chair next to him. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her top slightly upwards, he didn't dare take it off, it was so tight, but she took the hint and removed it herself. They moved closer once more, gently caressing each other's soft skin.

After a long, deep kiss Parvati grabbed Harry's hand, and lead the way into her bedroom. Most of the space was covered by her bed. Parvati let go of him and walked over to her bedside table, she pulled out a small bottle from the drawer, and drank all the pink liquid inside. Then she lay down on the bed. Harry joined her. Slowly they exposed more of each other, and discovered increasingly more intimate spots, while the soft sheets and cold air teased their skin.

Harry tried to do what came naturally, hunting down evil wizards had consumed the time normally spent on exploring the opposite sex, so he was unfamiliar with the sensations he now felt. Thankfully he felt at ease in Parvati's presence. She seemed a little awkward too sometimes, not really knowing where to put her hands. Harry found great comfort in that, kind of like they were on the same level. When he saw his own pleasure mirrored in her eyes, he was sure that it was impossible to be any happier.


End file.
